More regulations for abortion clinics

Anna Higgins is Director, Center for Human Dignity at Family Research Council. This article appeared in The Deming Headlight on April 15, 2013.

A Pennsylvania abortionist is currently on trial for seven counts of murder in a dangerously unsanitary clinic. Abortion clinics around the nation are rarely, if ever, inspected.

Earlier this year, a Maryland woman died following a late term abortion which was performed at a clinic licensed under Maryland's new clinic regulations. Even though the clinic was licensed, there is no evidence that it was actually inspected by the state health department prior to the death of the young woman in February 2013.

Forty years after the Supreme Court legalized abortion nationwide, these tragic headlines are increasingly common. Abortion advocates have long insisted that the legalization of abortion in the United States would protect women from so-called "back alley" abortions - ushering in an era of better healthcare and safety for women. The opposite has proven true.

Forty years later, abortion procedures remain highly unregulated and unsafe. Much of the fault lies in the fact that neither abortion clinics, doctors, nor procedures are held to the high standards of health and safety we require of other medical facilities. Where is the outcry from those who insisted that legalizing abortion was "necessary" for the health and safety of women? These same people should be on the front lines of the campaign to create safer and more regulated abortion clinics, but they are nowhere to be seen.

Instead, pro-life leaders are the only ones stepping forward to advocate for the women exposed to deplorable conditions in abortion clinics. This makes one wonder, was women's safety really the impetus in the support of legalized abortion in the U.S. or was there another agenda altogether?

Three years ago, Kermit Gosnell's Pennsylvania abortion clinic "house of horrors" (the term a federal prosecutor used to describe it) was finally shut down in the wake of a drug raid that uncovered much more than an abuse of prescription drugs. Agents found "deplorable and unsanitary" conditions, "including blood on the floors; parts of aborted children stored in jars; post-operative recovery areas that consisted solely of recliners; padlocked emergency exits; and broken and inoperable emergency equip ment" (AUL, Defending Life 2012, p 171).

He went on trial this month on seven counts of first-degree murder in relation to the deaths of born alive infants and one adult patient, and will later be tried on prescription drug charges. As horrific as these conditions are, just as appalling is the fact that the state health officials in Pennsylvania ignored numerous complaints about Gosnell's facility for years. It had not been inspected since 1993(Id.).

Despite the evidence, reasonable clinic regulations have been opposed at every turn by abortion proponents. Just as an ambulatory surgical center is tightly regulated by the state to ensure that all patients are protected, so should abortion clinics be subjected to similar regulation.

The "right" to abortion as expressed by the Roe and Casey court decisions is applicable only to the woman who chooses to have an abortion. There is no right for abortion facilities, owners, or operators to be exempt from legitimate state health objectives; nor is there any right to make a profit from the operation of an abortion facility.

The Supreme Court has noted that the State has a legitimate interest in seeing to it that abortions are performed in a manner that ensures maximum safety for the patient (Roe v. Wade). Additionally, the Court has said that the State has the right to distinguish the abortion procedure from every other medical procedure because no other medical procedure involves the "purposeful termination of a potential life" (Harris v. McRae).

Keeping in mind that the decision to have an abortion has grave moral implications and can result in serious physical and psychological complications, the State has the right and duty to protect its citizens by implementing these commonsense regulations.